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Mystery of Hanuman: Lost city of the ‘Monkey God’ found!

La Ciudad Blanca, Spanish for ‘The White City’ is a legendary settlement said to be located in the Mosquitia region of eastern Honduras in Central America. Researcher Charles Lindberg, during one of his flights over the jungles of Mosquitia in Hondurus, claimed caught a glimpse of what he thought was the ‘Lost City of the Monkey God‘ where, legend says that local people worshipped huge ‘Monkey Sculptures‘.

A hidden refuge of gods?

Theodore Morde – an American adventurer, worked on the tip given by Lindberg and claimed that he had finally found the lost city in 1940. He claimed sacrifices were made by local Indians to a gigantic idol of an ape. However, he was killed by a car in London before he could announce its exact location. Morde had originally been looking for the White City, a hidden refuge of gods and gold first reported by Hernan Cortez.

Discovering the statue

Researchers from the University of Houston and the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping flew over the Mosquitia region and revealed that there is evidence of a plaza dotted with ancient pyramids now reclaimed by the jungle on the east end of Hondurus. On the western end of Hondurus is the city of Copan – the site of the ancient Howler Monkey God statue. This monkey god that Westerners are talking about can actually be related to Lord Hanuman.

The Ramayan connection

Ramayana’s Kishkinda Kanda descibes about Trident of Peru, South America etc and Yuddha Kanda (War Episode) describes about Hanuman travelling to Paatala Loka (Central America and Brazil, which are on other side of India in globe) and meeting his son Makaradhwaja, who resembles him. After killing the King of Paatala, Hanuman makes his son Makaradhwaja as ruler of that kingdom and he is being worshipped as God since then.

The Ramayan connection

This could be one of the reasons why ancient Americans of central and south paint red color to all their gods statues. The discovery of Vedic Havan Kund in peru is also one more evidence of Vedic influence in this region.

The discovery of the ruins

After his expedition, Morder described traveling miles through swamps, up rivers, and over mountains before coming across ruins that he interpreted as the remains of a walled city. He claimed to have evidence of large, ruined buildings and said that his Paya guides told him that there once was a temple with a large staircase leading to a statue of a “Monkey God.”

The discovery of the ruins

Morde speculated that the deity was an American parallel to the Hindu deity Hanuman, who he says was the equivalent of America’s own Paul Bunyan in his amazing feats of strength and daring. Morde was told that the temple had a “long, staired approach” lined with stone effigies of monkeys. “The heart of the Temple was a high stone dais on which was the statue of the Monkey God himself – before it was a place of sacrifice.”

The discovery of the ruins

The steps to the dais were said to have been flanked by immense balustrades. “At the beginning of one was the colossal image of a frog; at the beginning of the other a crocodile.” He also said the guides told him the city had been inhabited by the Chorotegas (extinct Oto-Manguean language people) “a thousand or more years ago“.

The artifacts from the site

Morde and Brown brought back thousands of artifacts, most of which became part of the collection of the Heye Foundation Museum of the American Indian in New York City.These included metal razors, stone blades, a flute, stone statuary, and stone utensils. Morde and Brown also reported having found evidence of gold, silver, platinum, and oil and are now at display in National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

City of the Monkey God

Morde tried to return to Honduras in 1941 for further expedition but could not and eventually committed suicide for unknown reasons in 1954. Later, journalists and authors have associated Morde’s “City of the Monkey God” with La Ciudad Blanca.

5000 Years old Havan Kund discovered in Peru

Archaeologists have unearthed a temple, believed to be more than 5000 years old at the famous El Paraiso site, located near Lima, the capital city of Peru. On the western edge of the Paraiso Complex is a temple which is described as : “A small stone structure which features walls coated in yellow clay and traces of red paint, is thought to be around 5,000 years old and has already been dubbed the Temple of Fire.”

5000 Years old Havan Kund discovered in Peru

It was discovered within the western wing of the main El Paraiso pyramid. The hearth located in the newly discovered structure was used to burn ceremonial offerings. Marco Guillen, who led the team of researchers interpreted his findings and said, “The smoke allowed the priests to connect with the gods.”

5000 Years old Havan Kund discovered in Peru

This concept is very much similar to the Vedic rituals done in Havan Kund (Yajna, where people light up fire in a square shaped cube structure built with bricks and make offerings while chanting mantras, mostly to please a god/goddess and achieve a certain objective). This is also called as Agnihotra or Homa.

A larger version of a ‘Havan Kund

The Paraiso Fire Temple is a larger version of a ‘Havan Kund‘, with seating space for the pundits (priests) chanting mantras. Archeologists say the site is comparable in age to Caral, the oldest pre-Columbian site in the Americas that was inhabited between 2,600 – 2,100 BC. Caral is located some 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the north and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A larger version of a ‘Havan Kund

The entrance, measuring some 48 centimeters (19-inches) wide, leads to a chamber measuring eight by six meters (26 by 20 feet) where shellfish, grains, flowers and fruit were burned as offerings. The temple has four levels, with each one older than the other.

A larger version of a ‘Havan Kund

Vedic sacred fire ritual ‘havan‘serves as a link between man’s consciousness and the cosmic consciousness. Havan fire converts the physical components and all offerings made to the fire, into their ‘psychic’ components serving as homage to the deities presiding over the ‘havan‘. The ‘offerings’ made into the fire is known as ‘homa‘ (होम) in Sanskrit.

A larger version of a ‘Havan Kund

Probably from the Sanskrit ‘homa‘ that the English word ‘homage‘ is derived – though English etymological dictionaries trace the source to the word ‘homme‘ meaning ‘man‘. Agni (Fire) is the first word in Rig Veda (which is the oldest text available). Almost all religions use light/fire to worship higher force or God. It can be in the form of agnihotra, lamps or candles.

A larger version of a ‘Havan Kund

Burning incense sticks is also practiced in many religions and for meditations purposes. In Sanskrit, Peru (पेरु) means ‘Golden Mountain’ and ‘Paru‘ (परु) means ‘Paradise‘. Paraiso could have its roots in sanskrit, just like the ancient language of the Americas, Quechua, which has similarities to sanskrit. Just like the fire ritual in native american weddings and QoriKancha temple, which has ‘Kancha‘ word, which clearly means Gold in sanskrit and in Quechua language, QoriKancha (Korikancha) means ‘Courtyard of Gold‘.